The present invention relates generally to rim holding tire changers, and more particularly to clamps used to hold a rim in a fixed relation to the table of a rim holding tire changer while a tire is mounted on or removed from the rim.
The type of equipment for which Applicant's invention is designed is known generally in the industry as a rim holding tire changer. Examples of the type of equipment involved are the rim holding tire changers manufactured by Hennessy Industries, Inc., Applicant's assignee, and marketed under the trademarks "COATS.RTM." and "AMMCO.RTM." including the COATS.RTM. models 5030A and the model 5060A-E and 5060AX-EX. Other manufacturers of such equipment include FMC Corporation of Chicago, Ill., Corghi of Correggio, Italy and Sice of Correggio, Italy. Equipment of this type has been readily available in the market for many years, is the subject matter of numerous patents and has been described in a variety of publications, bulletins, brochures, operating and instruction manuals, and the like. One such machine is illustrated in the design patent issued to Applicants as co-inventors in U.S. Design Pat. No. 293,916.
In the normal tire changing procedure, the operator places a rim on the table of the rim holding tire changer and, using the clamp control pedal moves a set of clamps inward or outward to secure the rim to the table. The operator then mounts a tire on the rim by using a mount/dismount head to force the bead of the tire over the rim. Finally, the air chamber of the tire is filled with air to inflate the tire. This procedure is described in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/516,129, the substance of which is incorporated herein by reference, and which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
Rim holding type tire changers are useful because the inside contour of a tire rim is a controlled surface whereas the center portion of the rim is designated for styling and mounting. Most rim holding machines are capable of servicing all automotive type rims; however, they are limited in range and will not accommodate very large diameter (18"-23") motorcycle type rims or very small diameter (6"-10") utility type rims.
Furthermore, the clamps used to secure a rim to the table are not universally applicable to rims for automobiles, light trucks, motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles ("ATV's"). Thus, a clamp designed for the rim of an automobile or light truck tire will not accommodate the rim of a motorcycle tire. Likewise, a clamp designed for the rim of a motorcycle tire will not accommodate the rim of an ATV tire. To overcome this limitation, adapters are available to enable the conventional automobile rim holding tire changer to also accommodate motorcycle rims and small utility wheel rims.
One drawback associated with these adapters is that the user must purchase two sets of adapters to enable servicing of both of these types of rims. Although the adapters or clamps are easily installed and removed, an operator must manually change the clamps every time the tire on a different type of rim is changed. Thus, a significant amount of time is expended in reconfiguring the tire changer to accommodate a different rim size or type. Because the operator must change the clamps with each different rim size or type, the speed of the operator in a high-volume operation is substantially reduced.
Thus, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art of designing and manufacturing equipment used to change the tubeless tires that it is desirable to have a single clamp that is capable of accommodating multiple rim types. The present invention provides an alternative clamp configuration that is designed to accommodate more than one type of rim to obviate the problems of prior art devices.